I installed a new mobo and processor and swapped my old HD to the new set up. At startup the computer says it found new hardware and will install new software for it, then it reboots... over and over again... when I messed around with BIOS I could only get it to launch in safe mode, which works fine... but when I restart, it happens again, and won't start up in normal mode... HELP please

In Safe Mode, try going into Device Manager and deleting all of the devices and then reboot and let Plug and Play find them again. That might resolve some conflicts. It might also be necessary to install any system board drivers that came with the new system board while in safe mode. That could be a problem as you can not access a CD drive while in Safe Mode. One way around this is to boot with a Windows ME startup diskette and create a folder on the disk drive and copy the CD files to it. Then access and run them from the folder while in Safe Mode.

One other thing you might want to consider !! Is the mobo and cpu of the same type and speed ?? If not you might want to consider a relaod. Ususaly a very good idea, especialy when different levels of cache in the processors etc. Or as jackg suggest is uninstall all the hardware drivers, and have the system boot with native base windows drivers, than install the new ones. Regards Something to remember for the future when changing MOBO and CPU. IF IT AINT BROKE, DONT FIX IT

Another thing, you might want to consider. ♦ How to Rerun Hardware Detection Without Reinstalling Windows ♦ Good Luck, CrazyOne

The only problem is this... The computer only loads into safe mode... are you saying that I can create the boot disk in safe mode, then start up and that will take me out of safe mode? I understand copying the files from the cd to the hard drive so I can access them in safe mode.. the one piece of hardware that it's getting hung up on is an "IRQ steering" so I set the IRQ settings manualy in the bios and that's how I can even load safe mode... This is a real pain

I know i sound like a broken record sometimes, but why don't you check all the jumpers and switches etc, make sure all is set as it should be. Jumper the hard drive as master connected to the end cable of the primary controller. Clear the cmos. Reset the bios back to fail safe defaults. and reboot. Set the bios up again in line with what it should be. Leave the IRQ on auto assign, change the boot order to CD ROM and reload the OS. And if there is stuff on the drive that you cant afford to loose just choose install from the current windows folder and only the system files will be replaced. 1 hours work. Against 3 days to fix a problem. Regards IF IT AINT BROKE, DONT FIX IT

the only problem is that I only have the restore discs... the HD I am using is out of my compaq PC... tons of things on it I can't afford to lose... I think to be safe, I will try everything but reloading the os.. and if all else fails I will back up the HD and reload everything... as far as jumpers on the MOBO, I did not change anything from it's standard configuration... it's a Gigabyte 8ISXT with a P4 northwood 2.26 and 512 single stick of kingston